Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Congress and States Prepare for another Circumcision Battle

"Congress and States Prepare for another Circumcision BattleMGMbill.org sends proposed genital mutilation legislation to Congressand eleven state legislatures as the legal battle to regulatecircumcision heats up.

It is never okay to cut off a healthy body part from a minorSan Diego, CA (PRWEB) January 24, 2012

Children’s right activists from coast to coast have joined togetherthis month to press more than 2,200 lawmakers in Congress and elevenstates to enact the Male Genital Mutilation Bill. The proposed billwould protect boys from forced circumcision the same way that girlsare protected under federal and state laws.

As director of MGMbill.org’s Florida office, Stacey Butler is leadingthe effort in her state to make Section 794.08 of Florida’s SexualBattery Code gender neutral. “All children deserve to be protectedfrom forced genital cutting,” said Butler, a licensed practical nurseand mother of three living in Palm Bay. “Although every girl inAmerica has a legal right to genital integrity, we still allow boys tobe circumcised for medically unnecessary reasons. That needs tochange. One person at a time, one child at a time, we will make adifference!”

Another mother from Lakeville, Minnesota, feels much the same way. “Itis never okay to cut off a healthy body part from a minor,” saidKandace O’Neill, director of MGMbill.org’s Minnesota state office.“I’m a part of the intactivist movement because I feel it’s veryimportant that people understand the gravity of what’s being done toboys via infant circumcision. When it’s forced onto girls, we call it‘genital mutilation’. Is it really any different when it’s forced ontoboys? I would argue that it is not. This is a human rights issue.”

Circumcision was one of the world’s top human rights issues of 2011.In San Francisco, residents were all set to vote on a male genitalcutting ban when a judge struck the measure from the ballot over thesummer in response to a lawsuit filed by the circumcision lobby. Soonafter, California passed a statewide law forbidding all its cities andcounties from enacting similar ordinances.

The year also saw “Foreskin Man” become one of the most talked aboutcomic books in the press, and actor Russell Crowe created a mediafirestorm in June when he publicly stated that “circumcision isbarbaric and stupid”. A few months later, the 40,000-member-strongRoyal Dutch Medical Association called on politicians, insuranceproviders, and human rights organizations to help put an end tocircumcision, describing it as a “painful and harmful ritual”.

The debate over genital integrity is already spilling over into 2012.After years of legal wrangling, Finland is once again treatingcircumcision as a crime after convicting a ritual circumciser ofassault and battery earlier this month for circumcising two Muslimboys. A battle is also brewing in Congress over a bill sponsored byU.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, a Jewish circumcision proponent from ShermanOaks, California. Entitled the “Religious and Parental Rights DefenseAct”, H.R. 2400 would prevent any U.S. state or municipality fromprohibiting forced circumcision of minors.

Matthew Hess, president of MGMbill.org, said time is running out forlawmakers to decide which side they are on. “Circumcision promotersare attempting to enshrine the practice of mutilating a boy’s genitalsinto U.S. law,” said Hess. “If H.R. 2400 passes, no U.S. state,county, or city will be allowed to enact statutes that protect boysfrom circumcision. I urge any state legislator who wants to sponsorthe MGM Bill to step forward now, because next year may be too late.”

In addition to submitting the MGM Bill proposal to all 541 members ofCongress this month, MGMbill.org submitted similar versions to everystate lawmaker in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine,Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, andWisconsin."